Geography

November 29, 1987|By Bill Beaton.

WHEATON — Prof. Frederick Bein, chairman of the geography department of Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, expressed astonishment that 2 percent of 3,382 students tested in Indiana did not know that English is the United Kingdom`s official language.

The people of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are equally dismayed that Prof. Bein noted that ``England and the U.K. are the same place.`` That`s like saying that Texas and the U.S. are the same place.

With this type of inaccurate information, it`s no wonder that U.S. students are less informed than their counterparts in other countries.